Mommy Dearest
by GothChickSupremo
Summary: "I'll never leave you, my darling. I'll be your mother till the day you die." (Alternate ending to the final episode of Coven, because it totally hasn't already been done a million times.)


A/N: I was going through the notes in my phone and I found this old gem, so I figured I'd post it. Bold words are dialogue from the show, everything else is my own writing.

* * *

Dying is a real pain in the ass; even more so when the cause is cancer.

And boy, is Fiona Goode in a world of pain.

It is truly astonishing how much she's changed over the past month. All of the energy that she once held has been completely drained from her body, leaving the fading Supreme in her current debilitated state. Her skin tone has become ghastly, and her once beautiful champagne locks are now a few wispy strands that she simply refuses to shave off. Her motor skills have been reduced to that of a toddler who just learned to walk; she falters and stumbles constantly, though she's quite sure that her stilettos aren't much help. Her feet drag, she's constantly slumped over, her head feels as if it's being repeatedly slammed into a wall and worst of all, the magic that once made her an extremely powerful witch has almost completely fled her body. She is on the brink of death, so close that she can hear it whispering to her, taunting her.

But Fiona Goode has never been one to show weakness, _especially_ in front of her daughter.

So here she is, in the sitting room of Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, leaned back in a white chair with a cigarette poised between her fingers. Calculating amber eyes stare at an object atop one of the mansions many intricate accent tables, watching the blade with cool determination. She has to be fast, as fast as she possibly can be in her current state. Just one stab is all it will take, and her suffering will end... well, sort of.

Fiona Goode may not have a soul, but she does have a heart, and this will surely break it.

" **I saw you die**." There is shock in her daughter's words, but her inflection shows that she somehow expected this to happen.

" **Look again. Now that you have real vision**."

And just like the good girl she is, Cordelia obeys. She's clearly stunned to discover her mother's clever plan, which frustrates Fiona-did her child seriously think she would allow herself to be murdered by a _man_? Clearly discovering that she is the next Supreme hadn't made the younger woman any less gullible.

" **I ruined a perfectly good pair of Jimmy Choos. But I knew you'd get rid of him for me, once he served his purpose**."

" **Whose blood was it?** "

" **A goat's. I never killed anybody**."

" **Not yet. But that is what you came here to do**."

Fiona laughs at this and though she comes off as calm, she's actually quite nervous. _Almost time Fiona, just a little longer..._

" **That was the plan. Let you do the dirty work. Identify the Supreme and then I come in and take her out**."

" **Makes it a little harder when it turns out to be your own daughter**."

" **Not really**."

Cordelia smiles, then laughs, as if that were the most amusing thing her mother had ever said to her-and maybe it is, seeing as how horrible a mother she'd been.

" **You didn't come here to kill me. You were hoping I'd put you out of your misery, but I don't need to. You're close. I doubt you'll make it through the night**."

" **Might make you feel good though**."

" **Is that why you were always so awful to me? Because you knew I was going to take your power some day?** "

The dying woman can feel the sting of tears behind her eyes as every time she'd ever neglected her little girl flashes through her mind. It's like a tape being constantly rewound in her head, never allowing her to forget how terrible a person she truly is.

" **You took my power, the minute I gave birth to you. A woman gives birth, she can't help but see her mortality in that cherubic little face** ," she sucks in a deep breath, feeling her life slip at an exponential pace now that she's this close to the rising Supreme.

" **I saw my own death. You were a constant reminder of my worst fears**."

Death: the one thing that the all powerful Fiona Goode supposedly could not escape. Except this time she could, and she would...

" **Oh, and all this time, I thought you just didn't like me.** "

" **It was nothing personal, darling** ," her gaze shifts away from her daughter and down to the floor, and she takes a single drag from her cigarette, " **I loved you plenty, though,** " the stinging is stronger now, and she can't seem to find the strength to fight it. She snuffs her smoke as the first tear falls, " **Just my own way. Which, I'll admit, had its limitations**."

Cordelia smirks, though her mother can see her own tears beginning to brew. _You're getting close, just hold on...  
_  
" **Your fault was... you were always looking for another version of motherhood.** "

Dark brown eyes narrow, and she knows that the younger woman is thinking of the eccentric ginger, Myrtle Snow. She hates... erm, _hated_ that woman and the feeling had always been mutual, so naturally the vibrant hag had found a way to undermine her; she sighs.

" **I can feel the power vibrating off of you. It feels good, doesn't it? Hmm? It's mine, you know? When it came into you, it left me. The law of conservation of energy. I have to die for you to truly live**."

Cordelia turns away to wipe tears from her eyes, and she feels her throat constrict.

" **Crying over me? Isn't that the ultimate twist**."

" **I'm not crying over you. I'm crying for me. You were the monster in every one of my closets** ," Fiona reaches for the dagger as the other woman speaks, her bony fingers closing around it's handle, " **a lifetime spent either trying to prove myself to you, get close to you or get away from you. I'm crying for the girl in me who dies when you die**."

She raises her arm, weapon clutched in her hand- _no, not yet!_ -and offers it to her child.

" **Then kill them both right now, huh? They both hurt too much. And when we're finally gone, you will fulfill your destiny, and lead this coven. God knows you'll do a better job of it than I ever did, though you won't look half as good doing it**."

There's a ghost of a smile on Cordelia's lips, and she nods in agreement with her mother, accepting the brief moment of comic reprieve.

" **Come on** ," Fiona pushes herself from the chair, clearly struggling to stay on her heeled feet, " **For God's sake, have mercy on me. Put me out of my misery. I hurt everywhere**."

The young woman stands as well and gently pries the dagger from her mother's hands.

" **You're scared** ," she says calmly, her arms reaching out and pulling Fiona into what could possibly be the most comforting embrace either of them has ever received, " **maybe for the first time in your life. No powers, no magic. Just a woman facing the inevitable** ," she shuts her eyes and tightens her hold, wanting to cherish this moment for as long as she possibly can, " **a divine being finally having a human experience** ," Cordelia pulls back, though her hands remain wrapped around her mother's biceps, keeping her steady, " **No one can help you Mother. You have to do this alone. And the only way out... is through. So, feel the fear, and the pain. Let it all in... and then let it all go**."

Fiona nods, and she knows it's time. There's no turning back now, her life is only seconds away from disappearing. They're hugging once more, and she takes just a second to imprint the memory into her brain, knowing she'll never experience a comforting feeling quite like this ever again.

" **I don't think we ever hugged…** "

She moves so rapidly that her mind doesn't quite register the action until it's done.

The dagger is once again in her hand, though this time the blade is embedded in her daughter's abdomen. Hands latch onto her shoulders like a vice and slowly, Fiona lowers them to the ground, until they're kneeling before each other. Only then does she remove her face from the crook of Cordelia's neck, pulling back just far enough so she can look into the woman's panicked eyes.

"I love you more than the whole world," her voice trembles as she speaks, and she gently reaches up with her free hand to brush back her child's golden hair, "You're so beautiful, my sweet Delia," tears flow freely from amber orbs, and her right hand tightens around the dagger whilst the left moves to cup her daughter's cheek, "I'll never leave you, my darling," she leans forward and presses a kiss to the girl's forehead, whispering against her blanched skin, "I'll be your mother," she chokes, her eyes clenching shut as the last words her little girl will ever hear leave her lips, "until the day you die... I love you, Cordelia."

She feels a weak, albeit genuine smile spread across the young woman's face, and she knows that those are the only words her baby ever wanted to hear from her.

With a single twist of the dagger, Fiona feels the life-and magic-drain from her daughter's body... and filter right back into her's.

* * *

Cordelia Foxx lay on the floor of Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, only a few minutes dead and already appearing as if she were made of wax. Her mother-her murderer-is sat on her knees next to the woman's body, unable to tear her gaze from her daughter's lifeless eyes. Fiona had always hated her child's eyes, for no matter how much innocence they held, they would always be the eyes of her first pathetic ex-husband; one of the many idiotic men who thought they had more power than her.

"He was a horrible man, Delia. Even worse than me, if you could believe it," she smirks, using a slender finger to brush back her daughter's hair.

"He stole money from people, good people; that's why we were so wealthy. To tell you the truth, I didn't really give a damn about that. I was happy so long as I had clothes and shoes and jewelry, didn't matter where it all came from," her face falls then as her hand comes to rest against the side of her daughter's face, fingers gently stroking her pallid skin.

"No, no that wasn't the problem dear. I could have lived with that. The problem was that one day, he got the brilliant idea to hit me-me! Can you believe that, Delia?"

The renewed Supreme shakes her head, taking pleasure in the feeling of hair brushing against her shoulders. Though she has yet to look into a mirror, she can just vaguely see her reflection in her daughter's glassy eyes, assuring her that her beauty has been restored. Better yet, she can feel the magic pulsing within her veins, returning power and vitality to her formerly decrepit body.

"So I killed him. I sucked the life right out of him and I dropped his disgusting body in some swamp, let the gators finish him off for me. And then I made the biggest mistake of my life..." her voice trails off, an air of melancholy overtaking her, "now understand Delia, your mother has made a lot of stupid decisions. But bringing you here... that's gotta be the worst."

Fiona can feel the tears beginning again-though she doesn't think they ever really stopped-and retracts her hand, reaching up to wipe at her reddened eyes.

"I know you thought that I never paid you any attention Delia, but I did... maybe not as much as you deserved, but I paid attention none the less. I saw you. All you ever wanted, since you were just a little girl, was to be normal. You never wanted to be a witch; you never wanted to be a part of this coven. You wanted a husband, so that you could be his perfect wife, and children, so that you could be their perfect mother. You wanted to be perfect in all the ways that I never was," she exhales shakily, "and I ruined any chance of that happening when I brought you here."

"No one in here has a normal life Cordelia, but you still tried. You married that son of a bitch Hank in a desperate attempt to be happy. You loved him and even worse, he convinced you that he loved you back! You were trying to have a child with a man who's life mission was to eliminate our people, dear God Delia... how much more of a cliche could you have been?"

A sob threatens to slip from her throat and she chokes, bending her head to compose herself. She can't be here anymore, she has to leave, she has to do something with her daughter's body-she'll be damned if she went through all of this just to have one of those little witch bitches revive her.

"Come on sweetheart," she whispers, lifting her daughter's upper body from the ground and putting one of her limp arms over her shoulders, wrapping her own arm around the corpse's waist, "I'm gonna take you where I took your daddy. Won't that be nice?" She smiles, slowly beginning to stand and being sure to keep a tight grip on Cordelia.

"It'll be like-like a family reunion. The three of us, together again. Doesn't that sound fun?" The woman looks down at her daughter, as if expecting an answer.

"No... it sounds like hell. Are you in hell? Probably not. The only reason you'd be down under is because you're the spawn of a soulless bitch," Fiona laughs, beginning the strenuous act of dragging her daughter towards the front door, "yet another thing you can blame me for."

Once she arrives at the exit she pauses, turning around so that both she and her daughter's bodies are leaning against the wall.

"The last time I carried you anywhere... you weighed ten pounds," she exhales shakily, tears slipping from her eyes, "you were so tiny then, so precious; I had no idea what to do with you. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to give me a baby, I'll never know. All it did was ruin both of our lives."

Fiona sniffs and blinks back the rest of her tears, her attention returning to the task at hand: disposing of her daughter's body. She's able to force the door open without having to lift a finger, and she briefly considers using her newfound magic to transport the body to her car. No, she couldn't do that to her little girl, knowing how much she hated it when her mother would use magic for the most mundane tasks-most people wouldn't consider moving dead bodies mundane, but Fiona Goode had become quite acclimated to it throughout her life.

She moves away from the wall and steps outside, finally able to enjoy the feeling of the sun against her skin now that she isn't on the brink of death. It seems strange to her how the sun can be shining so high up in a beautiful blue sky when she's just murdered her daughter, but she supposes that the world must go on.

"You did always love being outside Delia," she smiles, pulling her daughter's arm around her shoulder once more and grasping her hand, "it's like you were connected to the earth, in a way that I never quite understood." Slowly, she begins to descend the steps, while carefully dragging her daughter along.

"It's where you belong, honey. Far away from this house, and all the pain living inside of it; far away from me."

 _Ashes to ashes, dust to dust._


End file.
